The Dallas Commission on Homelessness wants 600 homeless people, including 300 veterans, housed by the end of the year, according to the group's first report.

The group will present its recommendations to the City Council on Wednesday, three months after Mayor Mike Rawlings created the commission.

The group was tasked with developing a long-term housing solution for homeless people in the city. In its preliminary proposal, the group says ending homelessness in Dallas needs to be a budget priority for city leaders.

The commission is asking council members to approve a homeless encampment protocol, adopt a housing-first approach and partially finance efforts to house 600 homeless people by the end of the year. There was no dollar amount suggested in the report.

"The current level of homelessness is unacceptable for our community," the group says in its preliminary proposal.

There are an estimated 3,900 homeless adults in Dallas, but advocates for ending homelessness say the number could be higher. About 3,600 Dallas Independent School District students are believed to be homeless.

Homeless encampments

The mayor created the commission after city officials closed Tent City, a sprawling homeless encampment under Interstate 45 outside downtown.

At its biggest, Tent City was home to about 300 people. The encampment was closed in May. A second large encampment under I-45 at Coombs Street was closed last month. Almost 120 people lived there.

Encampments have been at the forefront of many of the recent discussions on homelessness in the city.

The city spent $145,935 on Tent City, including cleaning and fencing in the area after the encampment was closed.

Between October and January, the city spent $99,000 cleaning up shantytowns throughout Dallas. In two years, the city paid $800,000 on the regular encampment cleanups, which ended in January because of the cost.

Short-, long-term plans

The 39-member commission is expected to present a final proposal in November.

It's unclear what will become of the group after that. Some of the members suggested the commission become permanent.

Ragan has organized six community meetings on subjects ranging from youth homelessness to mental health.

In the group's first report, it suggests adopting an encampment closure protocol as an immediate step to solving the homeless problem in Dallas. That effort includes partnering with the Dallas Housing Authority to use 1,100 housing vouchers.

The goal is to house 300 homeless veterans and 300 chronically homeless people by the end of the year. Chronic homelessness is defined as someone who has been homeless more than a year or who has been in and out of homelessness.

The commission also says Dallas needs 2,100 permanent supportive housing units as part of a long-term solution. Such housing provides mental health care, addiction support and other support services to residents.

The group will meet Tuesday before it presents the report to the council Wednesday.